Rash's Journey
by Haberdashing
Summary: A story-based Nuzlocke run of Pokemon Red, where I hit every glitch I can just because.
1. Chapter 1

The world was white.

Out of the whiteness stepped a gray-haired man in a lab coat. The man rattled on about being a professor, about how he studied Pokemon. The exact words slipped out of the boy's head as easily as they slipped in, but everything the man said felt comforting, felt _right_ in the way puzzle pieces fitting together feels right, like everything was just sliding into place.

After a minute or two of this chatter, the man directed a question the boy's way.

"What is your name?"

This should not have been a difficult question.

This _was_ a difficult question.

The boy had to stop to think, the professor's words jumbling together in his mind as he tried to focus on what was asked of him.

"R..."

The sound rolled on his tongue, lengthening and lengthening as he struggled to remember what followed after.

Then it came to him in an instant, and his previous difficulty seemed laughable now- how could he ever have forgotten?

"Rash. My name is Rash."

It was a strange name, he knew, and yet the professor- Oak, he had said his name was Oak- showed no signs of surprise, merely nodding sagely in response.

Another figure appeared in the whiteness, a boy about his own age with spiky red hair and a smirk on his face. The other boy didn't move a muscle, didn't twitch or breathe or shift position, standing still as a statue as Oak began to speak of him.

"This is my grandson. He's been your rival since you were a baby. …Erm, what is his name again?"

This question was easier than the last, Rash's childhood rival's name somehow coming to him much faster than his own.

"Glue."

Another unusual name, and yet the professor once again looked as if he had been expecting this answer- which made sense, come to think of it, given that the boy in question was his grandson. Oak had just forgotten what his grandson was called for a moment; Rash certainly wouldn't judge him for that, not when he'd practically forgotten his own name only a few moments ago.

"Rash! Your very own Pokemon legend is about to unfold! A world of dreams and adventures with Pokemon awaits! Let's go!"

Before Rash could say a word, could ask where they were going or what kind of legend was about to begin, the world faded away.


	2. Chapter 2

Rash woke up in his room, hands clutching his SNES controller.

Had all that been a dream?

It seemed so vivid, and Rash didn't remember nodding off, didn't remember feeling drowsy while playing his SNES... but it had to be a dream. What else could explain it?

Rash let go of the controller and wandered over to his desk, quickly checking things on his computer.

There was a Potion stored there for him.

Rash didn't remember ever putting a Potion inside (Rash was beginning to realize that there was a great deal he didn't remember that nonetheless seemed to be the case), and he would have had no reason to do so, as he didn't have his own Pokemon... but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Rash tossed the Potion into his bag and walked downstairs.

He gave his mother a perfunctory greeting before slipping out the door.

If his Pokemon legend really was about to begin, as Professor Oak had said in that dream of his... well, there was only one way to start it.

Rash headed north, eager to find and capture his first Pokemon in the tall grass that covered the route to Viridian City.

He made it all of one step into the grass before Professor Oak came running over, yelling about the dangers of wild Pokemon and practically forcing Rash into his lab.

Professor Oak looked the same as he had in Rash's dream, down to the book he was holding. And was he imagining that glimmer of excitement in the professor's eye as they entered the lab together?

Another person burst forth- it was the other boy he'd seen in the dream, Glue.

Rash and Glue... what a pair they made.

But while Glue had stood still in the dream, here he was bursting with motion, tapping his foot impatiently as the professor explained that he was going to give each of them a Pokemon of their very own.

For whatever reason, instead of letting his grandson get first pick, he gave that privilege to Rash instead.

Rash really would have liked for it to be the other way around- he had too much on his mind, couldn't fully focus on the decision he needed to make- and judging by the glare Glue was shooting him, the other boy would have preferred the opposite arrangement as well.

But it was not meant to be.

Rash paused, taking a step back from the table on which three Poke Balls sat. "Can I go think about this for a bit, maybe do some research-"

He had already turned around and taken several steps towards the door before the professor responded.

"No."

Something in Professor Oak's voice resonated in Rash's mind, made him face the professor again and take a tentative step forward.

"Are you sure? I should probably tell my mother I'll be getting a Pokemon, maybe she'll have some advice for-"

" _No._ "

A shiver ran down Rash's spine as he took another step forward.

Rash blinked.

For a split second, it looked as if the professor were gone, nothing but thin air present where he had been standing mere moments ago. The middle Poke Ball on the table was gone, too, with no sign that it had ever been resting there. Glue was still there, though, waiting as (im)patiently as ever, and the professor's assistants continued to wander the lab.

He blinked again, and he could swear the walls were screaming, soft wails assailing him from all sides.

He blinked again, and the world was normal once more, with both Professor Oak and Glue staring at him, silently awaiting his decision.

Rash shook his head as if to shake away what he had seen, what he had heard, but one thing was certain:

Whatever strangeness was going on here, it hadn't ended with his dream.


End file.
